Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by swhitt:

Bottled on 3/22/06, picked this one up from the Wine Gallery in Kenmore Square.

Poured into a snifter, golden yellow almost to the orange with a small wispy head. Smells pretty decent, but not anything out of the ordinary. Floral and sweet with a little bit of honey in the scent.

Tastes very good at first, very sweet like a lot of DFH brews. Almost like a 90minute without the extreme hops. After a few quaffs it's almost a little syrupy but not in a bad way. Not sure if I'd drink a lot of this but it's pretty good for 9% ABV.

More User Reviews:

Poured into a pilsner a deep clear rich golden with a large blooming sticky white head that clung to the glass as it settled slowly.Big vinious hop aromas herbal and citric with that green tea element that a few others have noted a bit of iron and residual sweetness as well more like a APA to me really.Hops dominate the palate as well cascade-like citric tones and some soft herbal notes,there is an underlying sweetness wich becomes more prevelent as it warms.Iam a hop head no doubt about it but when I drink a impy pilsner I want more pilsner qualities,Sam Adams version was more raw and not so "Americanized",still not bad.

Known for my preference for roasty, malty beers over bitter , hoppy beers, I was warned against this beer. But guess what? I tried it anyway! Hahahaha! Ahem. Glad I did give it a try despite the warning, as I found it a very pleasant beer, completely without a bitter aftertaste.

It poured golden, true to its name, with little head. It had a floral aroma, with a bit of fuitiness. At first sip, the hops are prevalent, but before I can react to them, a wave of sweetness takes over. I have a feeling hopheads may be disappointed by this, but I appreciated it. The sweetness was remeniscent of a mead, at least to me. I think my drinking partner disagreed, as he informed me there is no honey in this beer. Yet the sweetness is not overbearing and it finishes very nicely on the tongue. It has an easygoing drinkability despite the high alcohol. But it's not one to chug, it's a great beer to sit and enjoy or take to a BYOB.

S: Smells of fruit with some sweet malty tones and some spicy hoppy tones. Has a bit of a boozy smell.

T: Initial taste is of honey and a biscuity malt. Some fruit and caramel flavors build upon this. Ends with some spicy hop flavors that don't take over. A very heavy taste for an imperial pilsner.

M: Full bodied with ok carbonation a thick feel. No bitterness, subtle spice, and not much heat (after 4 years anyway)

D: I have a feel the age has helped alot but at this point it's quite drinkable. It's heavier than your average pilsner and has a decent alcohol content but it goes down quite smooth.

Overall, I liked this one more than expected. I would guess the age is responsible for mellowing this beer down but it really is a charm to drink. The taste is interesting and original and seems to go beyond the limits of an Imperial Pilsner. The sweet malt flavor is definetly dominate and this beer has definetly become something near to a barleywine. Not the best beer in the world, but I'd be lieing if I said I didn't like it.

750ml bottle with the lovely golden shower on the label. Pours into my glass an orange amber hue with a nice healthy inch of creamy white head. Slightly hazy with active carbonation. Aromas of somewhat sweet cereal grains, lightly toasted along with a blast of spicy, grassy hops. Somewhat fruity as well with a bit of alcohol and caramel.

First sip brings a doughy, sweet maltiness that's followed by a rush of hops, grassy, pine needles and somewhat spicy in flavor. Flows down with a sturdy bitterness and a bit of a biscuit afterthought. Finishes with a touch of alcohol and a bit of a slick feel. Doesn't quite pull it all together like I'd like it to.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied and and a bit dry with a stingy carbonation on the way down. Somewhat slick but still fairly easy to drink. Overall...it's an interesting double pilsner, but I think it could have been a bit cleaner overall. Seems almost syrupy in a sense. Another new brew from DFH and as always a new experience. I wish they would've stuck with the name Golden Shower though :-).

Bottled-on date of 3/26/06 stamped on bottle. $9.39 / 25 oz bottle. The beer itself is a deep golden color much like the 60 or 90 min Ipa. Good fluffy head in my La Chouffe glass that settles down but doesnt disappear.

Smells overly hoppy, also much like the 60/90 Ipa.

This beer has the same characteristic sweetness/syrupy qualities of several other DFH beers (Midas Touch, 120 min IPA). Actually, I think the sweetness/syrupyness could be compared to that of a double bock. Very interesting.

Absolutely full-bodied, and I would imagine good for drinking in the winter, despite the warm-weather leanings usually associated with pilsners.

Very tasty. Not sure why this beer got the relatively low scores (low, at least, for a DFH beer). I found it very drinkable and enjoyable.

A capped 750ml bottle dated 3/21/06. Poured into a pilsner glass, it's an orange color with a thick white head. Nicely carbonated. Some lacing.
It has a fresh grassy odor, maybe a touch of floral. A very hoppy taste, slightly sweet, with a nice lingering of hops. A pretty robust beer, will want to have more of it.

This is a dirty brown-lookin' pilsner. The head is purty thick and it impresses me as it sticks to the sides of my pint glass. Had the beer not overflowed upon opening (taken from a cold mini-fridge), I might rate it a 4. Minus 0.5 for spilling on my newspaper.

The smell is weird. Lemon rind, watermelon, cucumber...seriously, those are the smells that come to mind with this one. I know it was originally called "Golden Shower" so perhaps one other smell comes to mind.... Really, the smell is not very appealing to me. It's interesting and unique and, therefore, slightly impressive, but I can't say it smells good.

For a pilsner, this is really thick. The taste, particularly for Dogfish Head, is blah. I don't really sense all of the fruits (and vegetable) I smell. I taste a thick plisner. It's like a double pilsner. Is that what it means by "American Double" on this site? I figured that meant DIPA, but perhaps this is the first double pilsner I've encountered. That makes it more appealing to me, but I'm simply unimpressed with the taste of this one. I'm trying to be fair as I cope with the fact I don't really like pilsners that much so I think, considering that, that this one tastes slightly better than your average pilsner.

The mouthfeel is actually good. If I refrain from looking at, smelling, and/or tasting this beer, and just let it sit in my mouth, it does feel good. It's that aforementioned thickness that just lets it sit well. This is like the fat girl hook-up in college--it feels good but the details are worth overlooking.

Drinkability ain't so good. It's a cool beer because that's what Dogfish does. Still, it's named after piss. That's less cool. I can't imagine ever having more than one. I probably won't buy this one again. Though I like the thick mouthfeel and I admire and respect DFH brews, this one is perhaps the least impressive.

I remember picking this up back when it first came out, earlier this year and being very indifferent to it. I remember it not stacking up to the Samuel Adams Imperial Pilsner...but not much does. So, I picked up the last straggler at the local beer stop.

Pours a crystal clear deep gold with big fat bubbles rising to the top. Very airy, suddsy-like, white head that sticks around as well.

The smell is rather unimpressive. I can smell some light hops and malts comparavle to the nose of a Narragansett, believe it or not.

The taste shows a lot more than the nose suggests, thankfully...or maybe not? Extremely sweet. Too sweet actually, and that's how I remember this one. Not as hoppy as you would expect it to be as well. Lots of harsh alcohol burn all over the place in this one too. No, I don't like this very much at all. Very syrupy and lively carbonation in the mouth.

I am actually dissapointed that I even picked this one up. I went in to get a four-pack of Koeningshoven Quad, but they were sold out so I said F*ck It and grabbed this one because I probably wouldn't have another chance to try it. I should have left it in the cooler and went with my usual suspects but hindsight is always 20/20.

Big capped bottle, as pictured pours a clear, honey golden body topped by a large, offwhite head. Retention is pretty good for a few minutes, but eventually vanishes along with the lacing over the extended duration required to finish this big brew.

Aroma is huge, in the Dogfish Head sense of the word, with lots of soft bready maltiness and huge floral and fruity hops. I could have sworn I was sniffing a variant of the DFH pale ales. A hint of alcohol is noted, but seems more the aroma of a grain alcohol infused, honeydew melon. Only the honeydew carries over to the taste, thankfully.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with appropriate carbonation. An undesirable syrupy feel emerges as it warms.

Large bottle, bottled on 3-21-06, pours orangey amber, clear with an eggshell (thanks venom) tiny bubble head, leaving plenty of fine and sticky lacing as well as long lasting sheeting. Hope nose with just a hint of alcohol lurking in the rear. Green apple sweetness, grassy hoppyness and definite alcohol warming going on. Strong, heady, flavorful and bold. Probably would benefit from a nice one year rest in a cool dark place, but well worth enjoying now.

Many thanks to Chadbrew for sending this one my way.
Pale gold in color (appropriate) with two and a half fingers of bright white head with a fairly agressive pour...most of it remains for half the pint and leaves some spotty lacing.
Snappy spice up front with a floral hoppiness...a hint of sweetness with a lingering nose.
The taste is much more malt sweetness than what its scent was giving away...and the hops are more juicy fruit than floral...less spice with some banana, citrus, and slight alcohol as it warms.
Quite a huge bittering effect going on here...finishes with much of the same.
Fairly thick mouthfeel with a lot of carbonation.
A bit too sweet to drink any more than a couple pints...tasty, but I'd have to move onto something else after a point.
An enjoyable new offering from the folks at Dogfish...thanks again Chad.

My bottle of Golden shower is exactly one year old , time to crack her open.

Appearance: poured a very deep gold , almost amber , lots of carbonation rising a little bit slower than your average pils. Slightly offwhite head that lasted as a thin layer and left a ton of webby lace.

Smell: aroma is fairly malty with a good dose of floral estery qualities , hint at the alcohol , and just a bit of hop aroma.

Taste: Huge malt body in this beast of a pilsener. The smooth and slightly slick body has lots of bready and rich grain flavor , fruity esters throughout , definate alcohol presence that lends a nice warmth, hop bitterness holds off for a bit but eventually sweeps in with a strong bitterness , hint at leafy taste , and light spice.

Mouthfeel: full , smooth , and slick.

Drinkability: A really cool brew imo , unique and expierimental , i like! Great body and an interesting and fairly intense flavor. I would really like to try this one fresh , maybe then it would be a little bit more like a traditional pils. In this tasting , the hops were present , but very mellow , as was the carbonation.

Purchased at the Foodery in Northern Liberties. Pours with a little head and orange-ish in color. The smell is boozy for a Pils. I don't see the Pils in this at all not quite knowing what a Double Pils is; it reminds me too much of 60 Minute (which I like but I would have bought it if I wanted it). It has too much of an alcohol mouthfeel which affects the drinkability. The Double Pils is a strange style but I am not enjoying this beer. Not a pour but I am glad I only bought one of these.

Drank the Golden Shower and it was... fantastic. Clear gold with a bubbly white head. The noble hops, saaz, and danky malt aromas are thick and rich with a touch of honey. A full taste of the same, but perfectly balanced with the battle between the sweet pilsner and tart hops at a stalemate. An excellent beer that destroys Sam Adams' version.

After missing out on the DFH Prescription Pils at the Penn Brew Fest a few year's back, I'm glad to finally track down Sam's interpretation of the Imperial Pils in a 750ml portion. Appearance is Deep golden almost amber transluscent with huge billowing white head seems thick upon the pour retention is great lacing left behind is even and symmetrical in rings with each sip. Aroma contains a great vinous hop character off the bat with herbal and grassy highlights coming through very aromatic but the malt seems heavier handed here than the hops do with big syrupy biscuit malt layers and presence of alcohol tinging the nostrils. Taste is full of unrefined raw malt sweetness infused with raw grassy herbal hop flavors and a bit of citrus fruit. Balance is lost with this one, the malts definitely shine over the hop profile but it's still enjoyable. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied syrupy texture with oily hop resins apparent on the palate. Drinkability...I had not trouble with the 750ml portion I wish that the malt layers would have subsided abit to the hop profile other than that it was a great interpretation of the style, although I preferred Sam Adams version for both taste and value. I spent ten bucks for this one and I don't feel jaded definitely worth the experience especially after looking forward to trying it for so long.

This beer pours a golden yellow color, with a thick, fluffy off white head, with a yellow tint to it. The head fades so very slowly, leaving a thick curtain of laces.

This beer has a grassy aroma. It smells slightly grainy. It has a sweet malty aroma also. The only off thing about it is that it kind of has a soapy aroma. I poured some into a different glass, to make sure that it was not my glass, and I got the same aroma. It is not overbearing, but it is slightly noticable.

This beer has a grassy hop flavor to it. It is sweet. The ABV is hidden well in the flavor. Again, it tastes slightly soapy, and I am positave that it is not my glass. Too bad, because other than that, this beer would be great.

This beer is full bodied. It goes down smooth, leaving a sweet grassy hop aftertaste.

This beer would not be the best session beer. It is a little high in alcohol, and the flavor is a little overbearing after too long.

Overall: Thank you ggaughan, for hooking me up with this beer. Although not my favorite, I am happy to have had the chance to try it. i look forward to trying many more DFH brews.

A- This beer has a light golden orange crystal clear body with a thick creamy off-white head. There is a nice carbonation of tiny bubbles that keeps the head going.

S- The smell of lightly toasted sweet malt is finished with a soft green bitter hops smell. Is this the right beer in this bottle?

T- The taste of sweet caramel malt with some notes of pale malt are followed by a soft green hop finish with bitter hops and alcohol hanging on the tongue. There is a very soft sulfur note as this beer warms, but I also get some light soft fruit notes from the malt as it warms aswell.

M- This beer has a medium mouthfeel with a slight creaminess to the texture. There is a good alcohol heat in the finish that is a bit fusel.

D- Wow this is a nice little Tripel with sweet malts and faint hops but I was hoping for an Imperial IPA. I think they wasted a lot of money on hops because they don't come through at all. I didn't taste any of the pilsner qualities either. I think some age will really help alcohol settle down but I don't think it will help boost the hop flavors at all.

A: A beautiful clear golden brew with a white head; like a ray of sunshine in my glass. Head fades quick but leaves a layer throughout the beer.S: The pilsner malts hit the nose first, with a speckling of hops. A caramel sweetness hangs back from the crowd. The 9% ABV is evident in the nose, with a cleansing effect on the balance.T: An expected dose of hops on the palate jumps out first. It provides a great balance to the caramel sweetness of the malts. Floral accents help the crisp clean finish.M: A creamy and heavy bodied pilsner. Moderate carbonation enhances the creaminess.D: I would definitely oder again. Like most Dogfish offerings, it delivers an abundance of flavor.

This poured to a bright and clear mix of gold and orange with a small head. Lace is minor.

The smell is a strong mix of malt and hops. The taste brings pale malt and lots of sugar up front and a floral hop flavor in the finish. A light amount of fruit comes through too. The flavor is more like an IPA than a pilsner. The mouthfeel is somewhat light, while drinkability is reasonable.

I-just-took-a-multi-vitamin-piss colored with a pretty nice offwhite head. Smell is a bit hoppy, but also very sugary... bordering on fruity. Taste is very sweet up front, with lots of light malts, and a nice hop/pine flavor that lingers a little in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is fairly syupy, but not bad for 9%, but still pretty heavy for being so light in color. The alcohol is really well masked. I've got to say I like it a lot, and I would drink it alot if not for the hefty price. I don't think I've had a double pilsner before, and I would probably like anything else in this style.

Shared a bottle with my brother at Cooper's in Scranton, PA. What a treat. The beer poured a bright amber color with a good white head and some active carbonation. The aroma is a bit hoppy, a bit citrusy and a bit sweet, all at the same time. The taste is big but also a bit suprising in that it is sweet as well. As others have said, ti reminds you of a 120 minute but not quite that big. Overall this is a very good beer with a nice full body and some good hop and citrust characteristics. Everyone should have a Golden Shower sometime!

A: Golden era was a clear copper/brown color with a small, slightly off-white head on top. Decent retention, but minimal lacing.

S: Overloaded with caramel and butterscotch, a bit oxidized. There was a little bit of pilsner malt and some light fruit.

T: Similar to the aroma, but the caramel and butterscotch were not as strong. The pilsner and pale malts came through stronger, also with a little bit of grain and some honey. Slight floral hop presence.

M: Medium bodied with slightly low carbonation, probably due to age.

O: Wasn't expecting too much out of this one, but not bad at all. Would have loved to have tried back when it originally came out.